OVER 10,000 jobs will be available in tomorrow's job fair in Cebu in time for the country's Labor Day celebration.

Regional Director Elias Cayanong of the Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7) confirmed that at least three manufacturing firms in Cebu started to hire and re-hire their displaced workers.

But Cayanong said he could not say if this signals the start of recovery among the firms, whose operations were severely disrupted by the onset of the global recession last year.

Since last year until March, almost 10,000 workers were displaced, Cayanong said. Of that figure, 5,577 workers were displaced in 2008.

About 820 workers were displaced last January, followed by 2,300 displaced workers in February and 759 workers last month.

Cayanong said 80 percent of these workers came from Metro Cebu, mostly from the manufacturing firms in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City and in Mandaue City.

But recently, Cayanong said some companies like Mitsumi in Danao City is hiring 1,500 workers while Pentax Cebu Philippines Corp. is hiring and rehiring 277 workers.

Matluster Corp., which is based in the MEPZ like Pentax, is re-hiring 133 workers and hiring an additional 270 workers.

Timex Philippines, Cayanong said, returned to its regular operation after implementing compressed work-weeks for their employees.